WPR ( World Politics review) Weekly review ü July 5, 2025 - The week's major developments

 

July 5, 2025

Hi, everybody. I’m Judah Grunstein, WPR’s editor-in-chief, and this is a free preview of our Weekly Review newsletter, which recaps the highlights from our coverage this week and previews what we have planned for next week.

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Top Stories

This week, in our Daily Review newsletter, we took a look at the week’s major developments:

Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni confirmed Saturday that he intends to run for a seventh term in next year’s presidential election. (Subscribe to WPR to read our analysis.) Thailand: The country’s Constitutional Court suspended Paetongtarn Shinawatra as PM on Tuesday, pending an ethics investigation over a controversial leaked phone call from last month between her and former Cambodian PM Hun Sen. (Subscribe to WPR to read our analysis.) Iran: President Masoud Pezeshkian has enacted a law suspending the country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog. (Subscribe to WPR to read our analysis.)

This Week’s Highlights

Erdogan Is Angling to Remain Turkey’s Ultimate Authority. On Tuesday, Nate Schenkkan looked at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s maneuvering to attempt to remain in office beyond 2028.

After navigating extraordinary turmoil over the past 15 years, Erdogan has emerged as the head of a hyper-presidential system he designed for himself. He has maintained his grip on power through constant political tacking and relentless persecution of his opponents. The next challenge to his rule now looms: By law, Erdogan must leave the presidency at the end of his current five-year term in 2028. But there are clear signs he has no intention of doing so. Erdogan’s political maneuvering is already underway, in the form of a pincer movement he is executing on the already divided opposition. Upgrade to a paid subscription to get the full bulleted breakdown of this article or listen to it in audio form.

Budapest Pride Could Be a Hollow Victory for Hungary’s Opposition. And on Wednesday, Amanda Coakley argued that Budapest’s recent Pride parade cannot alone deliver a victory for Hungary’s opposition.

Last weekend, Hungary’s capital witnessed its largest ever Pride parade, a jubilant and resolute rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s illiberal policies. The massive turnout marked one of the largest opposition gatherings in Hungary’s recent memory. However, as momentous as this year’s Pride was for the capital, it also highlighted a divide at the heart of Hungarian society. The euphoria in the capital cannot hide the reality that there were no similar manifestations across the country beyond Budapest’s city limits, the “heartland” where Orban and Fidesz still maintain formidable support. The dichotomy was clear: Budapest may be in revolt, but much of Hungary remains Orban-land. Upgrade to a paid subscription to get the full bulleted breakdown of this article or listen to it in audio form.

This Week’s Most-Read Story

The Differences Between Iraq in 2003 and Iran in 2025 Matter, Too. And in this week’s top story by pageviews, columnist Daniel W. Drezner explained why, despite the similarities between the U.S. invasion of Iraq and its recent attack on Iran’s nuclear program, the differences are more decisive:

Most of the differences between Iraq in 2003 and Iran in 2025 suggest lower risks of a foreign policy quagmire this time around. There is, however, one caveat to that conclusion. Following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. was ultimately able to prove conclusively that Iraq’s WMD program was long shuttered, because U.S. forces occupied the country. This time around, that is not an option. … This means that, in the near future, Iran’s theocratic regime might well possess the means to produce a nuclear weapon. And after Operation Midnight Hammer, it will be strongly incentivized to do so.

What’s On Tap

And coming up next week, we’ve got:

A briefing by Thomas Graham on the chaotic runup to Bolivia’s presidential election. A briefing by Tangi Bihan on recent deadly protests in Togo. And a briefing by Catherine Wilson on Fiji’s recently launched Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

That’s it for this week. And if you have any comments or feedback, just hit reply to send them along, or contact me on BlueSky at @judah-grunstein.bksy.social.

—Judah Grunstein

This Week On WPR:

The Americas

Ortega’s Transnational Assassinations Demand a Regional Response By James Bosworth Ortega has turned his brutal crackdown against critics into a form of interstate violence that also targets Nicaragua’s neighbors and trade partners.

Europe

Russia Is Driving Europe’s Remilitarization, Not Trump By Frida Ghitis Trump is getting the credit for pushing Europe to boost its defense spending. The real driving force is the growing threat posed by Russia. Budapest Pride Could Be a Hollow Victory for Hungary’s Opposition By Amanda Coakley Budapest’s massive pride parade this year was momentous. It also highlighted the geographic and political obstacles facing Hungary’s opposition. Europe Is Playing Catch-Up in the Race for Critical Minerals By Carl-Johan Karlsson The EU is sprinting to catch up in the critical minerals sector. But it is up against the clock, as the race for critical minerals is getting more crowded. A Wartime Boom Is Remaking NATO’s Defense Industrial Landscape By Candace Rondeaux A wartime production boom in NATO countries isn’t just sustaining Ukraine’s defense. It’s also sparking a defense industry revival.

Middle East & North Africa

The Differences Between Iraq in 2003 and Iran in 2025 Matter, Too By Daniel W. Drezner When the U.S. attacked Iran, many pointed to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq as a parallel. But it is important to stress the differences as well. Erdogan Is Angling to Remain Turkey’s Ultimate Authority By Nate Schenkkan Turkey’s constitution says Erdogan must leave the presidency when his term ends in 2028. He’s already maneuvering to stay in power.

United States

U.S. Public Opinion Could Limit Trump’s Hand on War With Iran By Charli Carpenter The recent U.S. attack on Iran raises the question of how popular a more protracted conflict with Iran would be among Americans. The answer? Not very.

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